The Last Farewell
by CrazyStarfinder
Summary: Bosco faces one of the toughest decisions of his life.
1. Chapter 1

Third Watch: The Last Farewell 

Author: Kelly

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all of the characters and everything.

Summary: Bosco has some decisions to make. Inspired by this from a forum:

"I think Fred couldn't deal with Faith's relationship with Bosco.Even though they were not romantically involved, they were there for each other in ways that Fred could never be. I think it really started going down hill when Faith failed the sergeants test because she was worried about Bosco. Fred had pinned a lot on Faith getting off the streets and them having a more "normal" life. Fred went out for a walk to cool off and when he came home he found Bosco talking about his 9-11 experiance and breaking down crying in Faith's arms.Imagine the kind of trust someone like Bosco needs to have before he could allow himself to cry in front of you. It was a very intiment moment.Faith and Bosco had an emotional connection stronger then anything she and Fred had and he knew it."

Timeline: third season sometime

Chapter One/Three

It was just another day for Maurice Boscorelli and his parther Faith Yokas as they patrolled on the Upper East Side. So far it had been a quiet shift, nothing out of the ordinary going on and it was nearly Christmas so apart from that, they had no problems. Faith yawned as she turned the RMP into the next street, Bosco watched her with interest then looked out the window. He was the kind of person who got bored very easily. "So..do you have presents for the kids yet?" he asked trying to get some conversation going.

"Most of them," Faith answered while keeping her eyes on the road ahead. "But I don't really have the time so I've left Fred with that job. Besides," she continued calmly. "He seems to know what Charlie and Emily want more than me."

"Well…" Bosco said quickly. "I got some great gifts for them." He gave her a grin. Faith glanced to him then visibly tensed up. He didn't hesitate to notice this action. "Something wrong Faith?"

"Nope," Faith answered not looking back at him, slowing down as she approached a cross walk.

"Oh yeah?" he asked unconvinced. "Then why are you so tense?"

"I'm not tense."

"Fred not delievering the goods," he carried on with an amused expression.

"I am not tense," Faith said.

Okay, Bosco decided watching his partner carefully. It wasn't anything to do with not getting any sexual activity but it was certainly something to do with Fred, he opened the window and leaned an arm on it once it was down. His eyes ticked down to the steering wheel. "Yes you are," he replied, her hands holding the wheel so tight that her knuckles were turning white. "Look at your hands, if you hold that steering wheel any tighter it'll be…"

"Shut up Bosco," Faith said choosing to ignore him, she carried on driving once the people had crossed the road and the lights had changed.

"Talk to me Faith."

"It's nothing."

"Hey if it bothers you," he said gently. "Then it must be something."

"Just quit it Bosco," Faith replied getting increasingly annoyed.

"No I won't, now spill it." Bosco stared at her, he knew she would crack sometime and tell him. She was his best friend and Bosco wanted nothing more than to know she was all right, Faith always forgot that sometimes he knew her better than she knew herself and this was one of those moments. "I'm waiting."

Faith started praying for a call to come through, anything that would change the subject. Perhaps if Bosco had the chance to shoot someone, or call someone a jag-off then maybe it would make him forget all about this. Bosco didn't enjoy this silence at all.

"Is Fred hitting you?" he asked, the words leaving his mouth before he was even aware of it.

"What?" Faith asked alarmed.

"Is Fred hitting you?" Bosco repeated, actually meaning it this time. Faith could not believe that he had just asked her that question, surely he thought more of that about her husband and shook her head slowly as if the mere thought of it were absurb.

"Of course not."

"Then what Faith," Bosco said pressing even more. "Something is obviously wrong and I wanna know what the hell it is." How was she going to come out with this, Faith's jaw set and she quickly pulled the RMP over in the first convienant place and killed the engine. Once she had done this, she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear that had come loose and took a deep breath. Faith turned to him.

"Fred doesn't want you coming round anymore," she finally confessed.

Bosco allowed all this to sink in for a few moments and frowned. "What! Why!"

"I don't know," she said with a small shrug, sitting back and hiding her face behind her hands. This weren't the way Faith wanted to break it to him but he was talking about Christmas and obviously wanting to see Emily and Charlie to give them their gifts.

"Is he drinking again?" Bosco continued like a dog with a bone. Fred had no problems with him before so why suddenly now.

"No it's just…he just doesn't want you coming around anymore."

"I believe he and I need a good talk," he answered defensively, hoping to set things straight between them.

"Bosco…don't go making anything out of this," she said moving her hands from her face and setting them down in her lap.

"No Faith," he said, anger seething just beneath the surface as he finally looked at her. "I need to know why." Faith gave him the exact same look she used on Emily and Charlie when they wouldn't do as they were told but this time, she allowed the look to soften marginally.

"You wanna know why?" Faith asked with a tired expression. Bosco just gave a nod in response. "He thinks you're a bad influence on the kids, especially Charlie."

"What?" he asked for clarification. How could this be possible? "But…but they love me."

"I know that," Faith answered gently.

Bosco swallowed trying to contain his emotions, he felt a combination of anger and sadness. He wouldn't afford to be shut out of Faith's life, or her kids. Sometimes they were the only things he had going for him and he couldn't lose that. This fact made the next question he was about to ask the hardest: "Do they know about it?"

Faith couldn't bear to look him in the eye and chose to look out of her window. "Not yet." Bosco stared at the dashboard for a while and noticed Faith had grown quiet and the silence between them had become extremely tense.

"When did Fred decide this exactly?"

"He picked Charlie up from school and oh the way home someone got in their way," Faith said gently looking back to him with a small smile. "He called the guy a jag-off." The smile faded, she obviously had found it amusing. "Charlie said it and Fred hit the roof completely."

"He could have heard it anywhere," Bosco said then looked out the window to someone absently throwing bricks at their RMP. "Hey jag-off how about I throw some bricks at you? Huh?" he said while making a show of undoing his buckle, the kid soon ran off down the block. "Man I hate kids," he muttered then saw Faith look at him. "Like that little jag-off I mean."

Faith watched him with a sad expression as the realisation dawned on her but that was the thing, she could never remember Bosco using his mouth around her kids. "Yeah," she said quickly. "He probably picked it up from school."

"Yeah," Bosco said quietly. Faith gave him a small smile, she only wished she were as convinced as she sounded. Fred had been so wound up about it that they had spent the entire night arguing and it had come to a close when he refused to have her partner round anymore.

"You guys didn't fight did you?" Bosco asked, although he already knew the answer. Faith straightened up and forced herself not to look at him, the woman didn't need to say anything because Bosco could read her so well. And what's worse, she knew it. "Maybe you could ask for a new partner."

"Why?" Faith asked.

Bosco didn't like this solution as much as he did and normally he came over as selfish and had no consideration for anyone. Faith Yokas, well she was an exception in his book and if her being happy mean him standing down gracefully then that was the answer. "I'm ruining your marriage Faith."

"Of course you're not Bosco," Faith said trying to reassure him and rested her head on the steering wheel, closing her eyes tightly. "I'm doing that all fine by myself."

"Only because you defend me and my actions constantly," he said stating the obvious. "If you get a different partner, I won't be as much a part of your life. Fred will stop bitching and god knows Charlie and Emily don't need their parents separating through any fault of mine." Bosco had never been good with all this honesty crap and he wasn't even sure he was doing a good enough job of it, he reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Faith."

Faith pursed her lips together tightly and convinced herself not to cry, forced herself not to let the tears fall. She couldn't let Bosco do this, he was her partner and that was all there was to this friendship. They were great friends and she couldn't understand why Fred was threatened by it. "Bosco…"

"Everything will all right once I'm out of your lives," Bosco continued now he was set in that frame of mind.

Faith sat up straight and looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "No it won't," she said angrily. "It won't solve anything." Bosco looked at her with an expression that made her heart literally melt; he slowly removed his hand.

"Please don't cry Faith," he said, he wasn't good with women crying all over the place. Faith tilted her head to one side then looked back out the window; he moved his hand under her chin so she had no choice but to look at him.

"All I am saying is it's better if I'm gone." She shook her head slowly and wiped away the tears she had allowed to fall in her moment of weakness. Faith composed herself and reached for the keys to start the engine. Drawing in a deep breath, she went to speak but was interrupted when they got a call over the radio. They both listened in.

"55 David is on the way," Faith answered calmly then looked to Bosco. "10-52," she said while pulling away. "Sounds like another domestic one."

"Great," Bosco said sarcastically. "My favourite."

--


	2. Chapter 2

Third Watch: The Last Farewell 

Author: Kelly

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all of the characters and everything.

Summary: Bosco has some decisions to make. Inspired by this from a forum:

"I think Fred couldn't deal with Faith's relationship with Bosco.Even though they were not romantically involved, they were there for each other in ways that Fred could never be. I think it really started going down hill when Faith failed the sergeants test because she was worried about Bosco. Fred had pinned a lot on Faith getting off the streets and them having a more "normal" life. Fred went out for a walk to cool off and when he came home he found Bosco talking about his 9-11 experiance and breaking down crying in Faith's arms.Imagine the kind of trust someone like Bosco needs to have before he could allow himself to cry in front of you. It was a very intiment moment.Faith and Bosco had an emotional connection stronger then anything she and Fred had and he knew it."

Timeline: third season sometime

Chapter Two/Three

It didn't take Faith and Bosco that long to get to the scene of the dispute. Bosco got out the car and slammed the door too, looking up at the apartment building. "Why don't we ever get called to the classier parts of town?"

"Occupational hazard," Faith equipped moving up the steps and pushing the front door open. They moved up three slights of stairs where they were greeted by screaming and shouting coming from the fourth door along, Bosco went fourth.

"You think this is the place?" Bosco asked.

"It sure as hell isn't the greatest hits of Slipknot," Faith retorted. Bosco smiled, it appeared that his sense of humour was slowly rubbing off on her. Sure it had taken years but what did that matter? Those were the best years of his life. Bosco knocked on the door, more screaming.

"We're with the police department," Faith shouted loudly. Bosco started knocking on the door once more to grab their attention.

"We don't need no policemens," came the response from behind the door.

"Oh I think you do," Bosco shouted. "Now open up. We didn't drive halfway across town to be told thanks and no thanks."

"Why don't you go do some real police work!"

"Open up jag-off," Bosco retorted. "Or I'll do it myself."

"Bosco," Faith said calmly. "Calm down." She decided to interject and leaned against the door. "Sir," she said loudly. "Just open the door and it'll make it easier for everyone. One of your neighbours called and it concerned for you and your wife." One of the neighbours peeked their heads around the door frame to see what was going on in the corridor. Bosco spotted her.

"Got nothing better to do?" he asked quickly. The old woman shot back inside her apartment. Faith paused to see what he was talking about then carried on banging the door. "Sir, if you resist we will have no option but to use adequete force." There was more screaming, more yelling and then something about a frying pan.

Bosco had just about had enough of this crap so he told Faith to move out the way and kicked in the door, it took two attempts and he was in. Faith followed him in and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the woman standing over her husband, frying pan in hand. Bosco did a beautiful doubletake. "You hit him?"

"He kept using his mouth," the latino woman said. "So I…" She started motioning with the frying pan, Faith moved up and grabbed her wrist to take it away from her.

"Great," Bosco muttered then reached for his radio. "This is 55-David. We need EMS on the scene, 10-24FP."

"FP?"

"Yeah we have a male victim hit with a frying pan," he answered. "He's out cold."

"We'll have someone on the scene shortly."

Faith had seen a lot of things in her time as a cop but this was a first. She leaned in to speak with Bosco while holding the frying pan in her hands, the woman seemed to be calm for the time being. "Think they were arguing over who was gonna make the pancakes or something?"

"Or maybe it was eggs," Bosco said then looked to the woman. "You got a name?"

"Mrs Marina Martinaz."

"That's easy enough to remember," Bosco said then put his hands on his hips. "So Marina, care to tell me why you struck your husband with a frying pan?"

"Because he wouldn't let me watch Oprah."

"So you decided to hit him with a frying pan?" Faith asked in disbelief.

"He can't be using his mouth if he unconscious, can he?" Marina retorted.

Bosco made a point of looking at his watch then back to the woman. "Well Marina, while you were arguing with your husband over this, you missed the show anyway." Faith put her hands on her hips and wondered what the hell were taking the paramedics so long.

As if her thoughts were read, they heard the familiar sirens and Monte "Doc" Parker and Carlos Nieto ran down the corridor. "Hey," Carlos said. "We're finally here."

"Finally what took you so long?" Bosco asked.

"Have you seen the traffic out there?" Doc replied stepping past him and setting his kit down next to the man then knelt down to take his vitals.

"What happened to him?" Carlos said from beside Bosco.

"He's been hit with a frying pan," Faith said dryly. Doc paused what he was doing and looked up at her with an astonished look then back down to Marina's husband. Carlos gave a short laugh.

"Seriously?" Carlos replied shaking his head with a faint grin.

"Wait until you hear the good part," Bosco commented.

"What's that?" Doc asked.

"She hit him because he wouldn't let her watch Oprah," Bosco said shoving his hands in his pockets, a twinkle of amusement in his eye. Carlos just stared at him with an expression that clearly asked if he was being serious.

"Oprah?" Carlos asked.

"Oprah," Faith confirmed.

Doc decided at this point that he was going to join in with the choir and tore his gaze away from his patient for one second. "Did you just say Oprah?"

"What are you all? An echo. Yeah Oprah," Bosco said loudly. Carlos walked over to Doc and helped prep him for transportation; they got him on the gurney and started taking him down to the bus.

"No one loves Oprah that much," Carlos said quickly. Bosco smirked and choked back a laugh, he covered it up with a cough and glanced to Faith then walked down the corridor ahead of them and waited until he got outside where he burst out laughing.

Faith allowed a small smile to form then looked to Doc and Carlos as they put him on the back of the bus. "Is he gonna be all right?" she asked seriously.

"He'll be fine, we're taking him to Mercy." Doc ran round the side of the bus and got into the driver's seat while Carlos stayed in the back with Marina's husband. Faith watched the bus pulled away and escorted her over to the RMP, opening the back door. "Watch your head," she said gently helping her into the backseat then slammed the door. Faith finally looked over to Bosco who was killing himself laughing.

"I'm so sorry Faith," he said unable to control himself. "Man some people are jerks." Faith couldn't help chuckle then walked round to her side of the vehicle and slipped in behind the wheel, Bosco finally calmed down and got into the passenger's side. Faith glanced back to the woman.

"Let's get frying pan happy here back to the precinct," Bosco commented while wiping the tears away that had formed during the laughter. "Before I start laughing my ass off again." Faith smiled and reached for her radio.

"This is 55 David bringing in a female suspect arrested for assaulting her husband…" Faith began and Bosco cut her off.

"Just hide the frying pans," he finished for her before he started to chuckle again. Faith put the radio down, started the RMP and made the journey back to the 55th Precinct.

--


	3. Chapter 3

Third Watch: The Last Farewell 

Author: Kelly

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all of the characters and everything.

Summary: Bosco has some decisions to make. Inspired by this from a forum:

"I think Fred couldn't deal with Faith's relationship with Bosco.Even though they were not romantically involved, they were there for each other in ways that Fred could never be. I think it really started going down hill when Faith failed the sergeants test because she was worried about Bosco. Fred had pinned a lot on Faith getting off the streets and them having a more "normal" life. Fred went out for a walk to cool off and when he came home he found Bosco talking about his 9-11 experiance and breaking down crying in Faith's arms.Imagine the kind of trust someone like Bosco needs to have before he could allow himself to cry in front of you. It was a very intiment moment.Faith and Bosco had an emotional connection stronger then anything she and Fred had and he knew it."

Timeline: third season sometime

Chapter Three/Three

The journey back to the precinct took longer than they had anticipated, Doc was right the traffic was heavy today. Bosco had muttered, complained and called people jag-offs at every single opportunity but fortunately Faith had grown immune to such things and ignored it. "Yokas," Bosco said as they got out the RMP and Faith went to help Marina out. "Can you sign her in while I report to Swersky?"

"Sure Bosco," Faith said while taking a gentle hold of the woman's arm and helping her out. She watched after Bosco as he quickly made his way up the stairs and inside. The concern must have shown on her face for Marina was looking at her.

Bosco knocked on the door to Swersky's office and waited patiently. He heard a muffled come in and strolled in with a small smile. "Just had to report this to you in person Lieu," he said with a grin.

"So do it already."

"That female suspect me and Yokas brought in, she hit her husband with a frying pan because he wouldn't let her watch Oprah." Bosco chuckled as he thought back to it. He couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing again.

Swersky shook his head slowly and suppressed a smile. "People will fight over anything these days…"

"Yeah can you believe it…"

"After living in this city," Swersky replied. "Nothing surprises me anymore."

"Good point," Bosco said composing himself some.

"Anything else, I get the feeling you came here to do more than tell me an amusing story," Swersky answered pausing to look up from his paperwork.

"No sir."

"Then what are you waiting for? A lollipop? A gold star? Get out of here Bosco."

Bosco turned to leave and then turned back. "Actually a new radio would be nice," he said throwing his on the desk. Swersky picked it up and examined it.

"What's wrong with this one?"

"It's broken and this is the third time this week I get it," Bosco replied quickly putting his hands on his hips. "I'm telling you someone hates me."

"Don't be ridiculous Bosco."

"I am not sir."

Swersky sat back in his seat and shook his head. "We're busy enough as it is," he replied. "I don't this." Bosco stared at him, he had been waiting for an excuse to quit and seeing as he couldn't see himself being put with another partner, he thought that maybe he could use this to get out of there. "Neither do I," he commented unclipping his badge and belt before throwing them on the desk before heading back to the door.

"Where the hell are you going?" he demanded getting up from his seat.

"Home."

"You're still on the clock," Swersky informed him. Bosco stopped and stared at the door, this was one of the hardest decisions of his life and if he didn't do it now then he never would. He turned slowly and fought to hide the disapointment on his face, the disapointment at himself for giving in so easily. When Bosco turned, the look was gone.

"No I'm not," he said opening the door which left the entire conversation open for anyone to hear. "I quit!" Swersky stared at him in utter disbelief, as did everyone else as he walked out of the office and into the locker room. Faith had heard the tail end of the conversation and politely asked Officer Ty Davis if he would sign Marina in for her while she went to Bosco.

Bosco had quickly changed out of his uniform and was in the process of cleaning out his locker, he had time to make it more official but for the time being this was his only option. Faith walked in slowly and closed the door behind her quietly so as not to disturb him. "Where's your uniform?" she asked softly. Bosco said nothing and didn't meet her eyes as he pointed at the bag, then he carried on cleaning out the locker.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Faith but…" Bosco began quietly, he wanted to look her in the eyes but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "But I quit."

"What?"

"You heard me," Bosco said finally looking up at her. Faith frowned and shook her head quickly; this wasn't what he wanted. "You can't."

"I just did!"

"Why?"

He thought about it for a few moments and he wanted to tell her that he was doing it for her, for the sake of her children and her marriage. He wanted to tell her that riding with anyone else was just not good enough and he'd rather be out of a job than out of her life. Bosco figured that by spending less time with her, he wouldn't have to make her go through all this heartache and arguing with Fred as the man clearly had a problem with him. "It's just better this way," he finally replied sadly then carried on packing his bag.

Faith pursed her lips together tightly once more and approached him, grabbed his wrists to stop him avoiding the question. "Bosco how can you say that?" she asked her voice breaking. "How can you say that to me of all people?" Faith looked at him, pleading with her eyes for him to stay and think things through. Bosco gently removed himself out her grasp, zipped up the bag and headed out into the corridor where he ran into Sully.

"See ya old man," he said looking at him. "Take care of Faith for me, okay?"

"Where the hell you going?" Sully asked. "You leaving or something?"

"Yeah."

Sully didn't know what to say, he never figured Bosco for the quitting type, and sure he could be lazy and selfless and swore like a trooper but never a quitter. "Too bad," Sully managed to say.

"You're not going to tell me you'll miss me now," Bosco said teasing. "Are you?" Sully composed himself and shook his head quickly as if it were the last thing on his mind.

"Course not." Bosco smiled and got a sad one in return, he would come back and say his goodbyes tomorrow but right now he just needed to get home and start preparing for a different life. He walked down to the steps and over to his car, fishing for the keys in his pocket but felt a presence behind him. Without turning round, Bosco automatically knew how was behind him.

"Go back inside Faith," he said unlocking his car and throwing his stuff into the backseat. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"You can't just quit Bosco."

"Why the hell not?" Bosco asked finally facing her, the look on her face was almost too much for him to bear.

"Because I won't let you," she replied defiantly. "This is your life. You love this job."

"Not anymore," he said trying to sound like the decision didn't bother him at all and went to get in the car. Faith took a hold of his arm to stop him, spinning him round to face her.

"I don't believe that," she said quickly. "You don't believe that."

"It's true. Okay?" Faith shook her head slowly, trying to hold in everything she was feeling. Bosco forced himself to remain strong. "Come on Faith don't cry for me."

"I'm not," she lied.

"But you're gonna," he answered knowingly. Faith shook her head again and Bosco pulled her into a tight hug, he took in her scent and smiled sadly while looking back at the precinct. He sure was going to miss this and her most of all. Faith couldn't believe she was going to let him just do this but did she really have a choice? She couldn't force him to stay and this was something he wanted to do.

"Hey," Bosco said quietly. "We can still be friends even if we're not partners." He tilted her chin and gave her a heart-warming smile; he slowly got in his car and pulled the door too. Faith folded her arms and took in a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes. Bosco wound down the window. "Oh and on Christmas Eve, I'll put the gifts just outside your door and leave." Faith swallowed gently as more tears formed but she managed a nod. "I am sorry Faith."

"So I am," she said quietly staying where she was.

"Hey," Bosco said seriously as he looked up at her. "It's not your fault okay?"

"Yeah," Faith replied unconvinced. Bosco turned the key in the ignition and started the engine; he looked through the window screen and took a deep breath. He looked back to her and gave another smile, trying to act casual. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"You'd better," Faith said sternly followed by a laugh. Bosco looked her up and down and gave her one of the saddest smiles she had ever encountered. Faith closed her eyes briefly then intended to return the smile but as she opened her eyes, she realised that Bosco had already pulled away and was halfway up the street.

The smile faded as Bosco pulled away and he rested his head on one hand as he drove, bravely fighting tears as he stood by his decision. The decision he made. All for her.


End file.
